Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is a live amusement show at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Based on the popular and successful Indiana Jones film franchise, it includes various stunts and live reenacted scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is executively produced by George Lucas and directed by Jerry Rees, with stunt coordination by Glenn Randall. As part of the show, select audience members 18 and older are invited to participate as extras in certain scenes. History The show opened on August 25, 1989, as the first'' Indiana Jones attraction at a Disney park, and was put on a six-month hiatus in 2000 for refurbishing. This is the first theme park attraction to use a computer based show control system in conjunction with a custom made programmable logic controller system to trigger, control, and sequence complex live events in real time, controlled by the actors in many cases. All other effects are triggered by a Cast Member at the booth. The control system was based on the Amiga computer with software by Richmond Sound Design Ltd. This began a trend in live stunt shows with both Walt Disney World and Universal Studios opening many more similar attractions over the next eight years. Show Description Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is based on many of the popular stunt scenes from ''Raiders of the Lost Ark. The show uses various pyrotechnic devices which are incorporated into several of the stunts. The action starts with Indy braving dangers in a recreation of the Peruvian temple scene from the beginning of the movie. Dangerous spikes, false floors, and ancient booby traps test the archaeologist's skills before he attempts to make a getaway with the golden idol. The stunt show then moves on to the busy and audience-participant filled streets of Cairo. Indy and Marion watch street acrobats before events take a turn for the worse and a massive fight scene breaks out. The Cairo street scene concludes with Indy shooting at a Jeep loaded with explosives, producing a fiery conclusion. The final scene of the stunt show recreates the action-packed sequence in which Indy and Marion try to stop the Nazis from flying the Ark to Berlin; the reenactment is complete with a scaled-down version of a German Luftwaffe aircraft. Indy fights a large German mechanic while Marion mans the aircraft's machine gun, blowing away everything in sight. Indy and Marion are able to make a narrow escape just as the airport is engulfed in flames. Along with the former Superstar Television and Monster Sound Show, the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is a show that relies on audience participation as part of the show's entertainment. Volunteers are chosen from the crowd to perform in the Cairo street scene, though they safely stay away from the real stunt work. More recently, along with the audience, one real stunt actor plant is chosen from the audience to do real work. Incidents On August 17, 2009, 30 year-old stunt performer Anislav Varbanov died from a head injury after rehearsing a gymnastic tumble for the show. He was rushed to Florida Hospital Celebration Health where he was pronounced dead at 8:53 p.m. EST. Sources & External Links *Wikipedia *Official website Category:Attractions Category:Walt Disney World attractions Category:Disney's Hollywood Studios attractions Category:Shows Category:Live shows